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Durbin Rebuts Misrepresentations of Judge Jackson's Record

In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin pushed back on claims that Judge Jackson is “soft on crime,” responsible for our broken immigration system, and is “in the pocket of the radical left”

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today rebutted Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) misrepresentations of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s record, President Biden’s nominee to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.  Durbin pushed back on Graham’s claims that Judge Jackson is “soft on crime,” including her sentencing for cases of child pornography and representation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

“I listened carefully to the presentation by my colleague and friend, Senator Graham of South Carolina.  I wanted to come to the floor to make it clear that he didn’t tell you the whole story.  In fact, in some ways he didn’t even get close,” said Durbin.  “The bottom line as far as I’m concerned is this – what they’ve left out in the presentation is critical to the very truth of their allegations.  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is in the mainstream of sentencing when it comes to these [child pornography] cases. Seventy to 80 percent of [sentences by] federal judges divert from the guidelines as she has in some cases.  And let me add, her accusers have been voting for federal judges proposed by President Trump right and left who do exactly the same thing she does.”

Durbin continued, “What about Guantanamo? … the facts were she presented a brief, and the brief referred to a body of law known as the Alien Tort Statute.  And the person she was representing in this brief was arguing that he was tortured, mistreated at Guantanamo Bay.  And so he filed a claim under the Alien Tort Statute, and when you do that, you sue the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense… To argue that this was a personal charge against the President of the United States as a ‘war criminal’ is a gross exaggeration and unfair on its face.  The named defendants were required under the Alien Tort Statute for the allegations that were made.  That wasn’t her decision.  That was a decision of Congress.”

During his speech, Durbin also pushed back on accusations that Judge Jackson is responsible for our broken immigration system and is “in the pocket of the radical left.”

“The third point I want to make is immigration.  Yes, we have challenges in immigration.  I think we all know it.  But to blame her… is really unfair,” Durbin said.  “Now according to the Senator who just made the presentation, evidence that she’s in the pocket of the radical left when it comes to immigration—evidence that George Soros somehow is controlling her decisions is preposterous…. She has a balanced approach.  She’s ruled for and against Democratic and Republican presidents.  She has shown the kind of balance we expect on the Supreme Court.”

Durbin concluded, “Despite some of the things that have been thrown at her today and in other places, the American people came out of that [nomination] hearing and felt better and stronger about her nomination than before the hearing began.  It is evidence of the strength that she brings to this nomination and the value that she will bring to the Supreme Court.”

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.

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